Nivea Men Post Shave Balm/Best Primer Ever? Review

There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t see this product in either a blog post or Instagram update, I’m a huge fan of Nivea and have been using it in some shape or form since I can remember. Some of my favourite products are by Nivea, in particular their Express Hydration range. Nivea is cruelty free and has banned animal testing, making this possibly one of the biggest affordable and mainstream brands against cruelty.

I’ve been meaning to buy this for the longest while and found it selling on offer for £2.50 in Tescos. I waited a while before actually trying it as my hormone levels have been going up and down so if it broke me out I wanted to know if it was the product or my skin.

First impressions:

This is a really nice, light formula with a cooling creamy texture. My makeup lasted all day and went on smoothly, as far as shine control goes my nose became shiny after about 4 hours but I’ve not managed to find a mattifying primer that can keep the shine at bay for me so I wouldn’t deduct points from this product because of that.

Pros:

– Cheaper than most intentional primers

– Huge bottle

– Cruelty free

– Works as well as leading primers

– Cooling on the face

– Moisturising without making your face shiny

– Ideal for sensitive skin

Cons:

– There is a fragrance

– Bottle is messy (this isn’t a design fault as it’s not marketed as a primer)

Taking the two cons forward, the fragrance isn’t overpowering but if you’re looking for a zero scent primer then this would not be for you. It’s very pleasant and not overly masculine so I don’t have a problem and I can’t smell it throughout the day. Due to the bottle design, distribution of the product isn’t as clean or as hygienic as I would like it to be, so as a work around I have decanted about 35ml in to a pump bottle and kept the mother bottle in a cupboard, because there’s so much of it left over I wouldn’t mind giving samples of it to friends for them to try before they buy as this is going to last me a year at least.

I have tried this as my primer with my two main foundations now applied with the EcoTools Stippling Brush and it seems to control shine better when I use it underneath L’Oreal True Match liquid foundation than the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, used under a specifically matte foundation and you could probably get away without having to blot throughout the day. I’ve been using this for just under a week now and it’s not broken me out.

Another great use that this will come in handy for is killing the irritation and burning caused by waxing and hair removal, after doing my eyebrows I applied some of this on the waxed area and it soothed the area and removed any redness.

I love this “primer” and wish that I had tried it out sooner, it is definitely worth every penny and at under £6 this is possibly the best primer around for this price as cheaper ones specifically designed to prime can smell like PVA glue and has a tendency to ball up when the foundation in introduced.

Can’t wait to come across the next beauty hack that’s lurking in our house or men’s cupboards!